#1
Then after almost a year, coughing and gagging when we were on the VERY LAST FLOOR(level 44) a team of men showed up in hazmat suits and shut the job down. Appearently all of the sparkly dust we were breathing everyday was almost entirely asbestos. FML
Bored Panda reached out to Dr. Audrey Tang, a chartered psychologist, media spokesperson and author of multiple books, including "Be A Great Manager Now", "The Leader's Guide to Mindfulness," and "The Leader's Guide to Resilience,” who happily shared some insights into health and safety at work with our readers.
Dr. Tang argues that “we need to be clear that we are not talking about breaches that are completely illegal, as the laws of the country will deal with that (although in my experience delivering Fire Safety Training, there are still things such as smoke alarms being covered, missing fire extinguishers, and fire doors being propped open, which do occur).”
#2
#3
#4
She explained that the reason she mentioned those is that “while perhaps one can say they are 'lucky' nothing has happened, that sort of behavior - the minor breaches - can lead to much bigger ones, or be indicative of general malaise or slipshod behavior, which can mount up and eventually cause huge problems,” Dr. Tang said and added that “when you let one thing slide, what else might you turn a blind eye to?”
“However, with regards to the impact on employees - we only have a finite amount of energy we can devote to productive work within a day,” Dr. Tang explained. “We know when we are ill, for example, that ability to focus diminishes and performance suffers - if a workplace is making someone sick, you have already reduced productivity (not to mention breached the trust of the employee), but also, even if an employee is worried about something they have noticed that is awry, their own mind will be distracted and in turn affect performance.”
#5
#6
#7
Dr. Tang argues that research into wellbeing at work looked at "hygiene factors," “so called because they affected the satisfaction of employees if they weren't present (a bit like if one didn't wash their hands, they could become ill).” These include things like working conditions, behavior of immediate management, and the physical workspace.
Moreover, “more recently, research into organizational health speaks of 'psychological safety' as another element of health - at least emotional and mental health(!) - in the workplace,” she said.
According to Dr. Tang, “if a worker doesn't feel psychologically safe, i.e. they don't feel heard, or perhaps they are criticized all the time, perhaps they don't feel they can ask if they need support - this can be hugely detrimental to motivation, retention and performance, not to mention the employee's mental and emotional wellbeing.”
#8
#9
#10
The concept of "health and safety" also extends beyond the 1974 Act poster which is always displayed, Dr. Tang argues, with places like Singapore introducing the “Green Mark for Healthier Workplaces” in 2018.
Dr. Tang said that the five features they outlined for a sustainable workplace benefitting both people and planet were: “1. Sustainable design and management (of the basic building design); 2. Energy and response management (e.g. Water, electricity, heating, air conditioning); 3. Office environment (e.g. Lighting, glare control, overall comfort); 4. Workplace health and wellbeing (e.g. Food options, fitness programs, smoking cessation programs, biophilic properties); 5. Advanced features (e.g. Energy monitoring, energy disclosure, workplace health promotion),” (BCA Greemark, 2018).
#11
In a high risk you have to be naked under your body suits, shower when you leave, cannot bring anything in or out that hasn’t been washed & you have to wear a full face mask. It’s supposed to be very sterile. These guys had their face masks off inside the containment eating & smoking.
#12
#13
Dr. Tang also wrote an excellent book titled "The Leader's Guide to Resilience" where she also discussed this topic.
In a book, she wrote that environmental psychologists will agree that behavior can be shaped by the setting. “Having areas that generate a sense of wellbeing such as designs capturing our biophilic preference for curves, or buildings constructed from natural materials such as wood, the smell of pine or evergreens or the sound of running water can all contribute to energizing your human resource.”
#14
#15
#16
On the other hand, “certain certain contexts are conducive to crime, e.g. the 'Broken Windows' theory (Wilson & Kelling, 1982) or that population density leads to aggression, as dramatized in Ballard’s 2012 “high rise” based on Calhoun’s 1960s 'Rat utopia' – so over-crowded work spaces, no opportunity for privacy, a lack of consistent personal territory can be as problematic for your teams as constant demands or uncontained client stress.”
In "The Leader's Guide to Resilience," Dr. Tang stated that “creating a positive environment through sustainable practices is an easy win, and will help the planet, your people, and in turn, most likely, your profits."
#17
#18
I recently had management trying to pin a couple of guys on my shift for putting a pallet of product to close to a fire hose.
Only problem was more than half of the fire hoses on site are blocked or inaccessible due to rows of product blocking them.
Like banging your head on a brick wall sometimes I swear.
#19
According to the HSE's Labour Force Survey, around 1.7 million workers are suffering from work-related ill health (new or long-standing), and this addresses physical health in 2020/21, and this is followed up with a statistic of 822,000 workers suffering from work-related stress, depression or anxiety (new or long-standing) also in 2020/21.
Dr. Tang argues that it is unclear if there is a crossover between the statistics as it would stand to reason if you have ill physical health this can affect your mental health.
